Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Actually in 2nd test Pakistan was playing with only 2 bowlers. Sad to see his form :frowning:

Sri Lanka v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Colombo, 5th day[RIGHT]June 29, 2015[/RIGHT]Post-rehab Junaid not the same

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UMAR FAROOQ IN COLOMBO
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For four years Junaid Khan was Pakistan’s best bowler after Saeed Ajmal, but he is now struggling to regain the pace and accuracy he had before the knee injury in October
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Junaid Khan has been a shadow of the bowler he was before his injury in October last year © AFPJunaid Khan pitched the ball on what was a perfect length for a bouncer, but Kithuruwan Vithanage dismissed him to the midwicket boundary with a powerful pull. The bouncer used to be a standout feature of Junaid’s bowling - jagging back at the batsman’s throat from outside off - but something is now missing, and it has been so since the tour of Bangladesh earlier this year.
On the fifth day of the Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo, Junaid was removed from the attack after his second over. He finished with figures of 0 for 30 in four overs to go with his 29-5-89-1 in the first innings. He had gone wicketless in Galle, and is now a doubtful starter for the third Test in Pallekele, with Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq saying Junaid’s form was a “worrying sign” for the team.
Misbah rues first-innings failurePakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has vowed to bounce back in the third and final Test in Pallekele after losing by seven wickets in Colombo.
“We are definitely going into the next Test determined, and we have the example of Sri Lanka - the way they bounced back,” Misbah said. “I think our batsman are not scoring big runs and it’s on them. We are obviously going to sit and discuss our mistakes and come up with a positive state of mind to try and win the next Test.”
Pakistan never recovered after being bowled out for 138 in the first innings and Sri Lanka leveled the series on the final day.“We couldn’t handle the pressure after being 70 for 2 and then 138 all out, that really was something that didn’t allow us to get back in the game. That was the thing that kept us under pressure throughout the Test.”
Pakistan put up a better fight in the second innings, which included a dogged century by Azhar Ali, but the target of 152 was insufficient. “They knew the weather condition and they got only one chance to go out and finish the game before lunch. That actually took a bit of pressure off them and they batted freely. Otherwise, had they had a full game ahead of them and had to score 150, it could have been a different game. But they came out with an attacking approach and that made the chase look easy for them.”
“I really don’t know what is happening with him but I think maybe after injury he is not able to gain the confidence and rhythm that is required,” Misbah said of Junaid after Pakistan lost the second Test by seven wickets. “We expected that after playing a couple of matches he might find his form, but I think it’s a worrying sign for us. Lets see how it goes. We have other options in the form of three more seamers and we will take a call after looking at the conditions there.”
Junaid burst on to the international circuit soon after the spot-fixing scandal in 2010 and his success gave Pakistan a reason to look beyond the banned Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif. He took a five-wicket haul in only his second Test and developed into Pakistan’s first-choice fast bowler despite most of the pitches he played on being placid UAE surfaces. After 14 Tests, he had 50 wickets to Amir’s 51 in the same number of matches; Junaid’s cost 27.54 apiece while Amir took his at 29.
Between 2011 and 2014, he was Pakistan’s best bet after Saeed Ajmal and Misbah once said they were the kind of bowlers who made life easy for him. Shorn of home games because of security reasons, Junaid’s services helped Pakistan rebuild after the troubles of 2010. It was a delight to watch him bowl, his orthodox run-up beginning with a little jump that gives him the rhythm to steam in.
Four years later, Junaid is arguably the weakest link in Pakistan’s attack on this tour of Sri Lanka. His pace and movement are diminished, his lengths inconsistent, and his demeanour unthreatening. And before this tour, he had enjoyed tremendous success against Sri Lanka - 49 of his 70 wickets were against them at 26 apiece. It’s hard not to feel for him.
Junaid’s problems began in October 2014, when a grade 3 osteochondral fracture in his knee forced him to miss series’ against Australia and New Zealand in the UAE. He recovered to be named in the squad for the one-dayers in New Zealand ahead of the World Cup, but had a fall while training at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He missed those ODIs and was subsequently ruled out of the World Cup too. Since his return, Junaid has six wickets in four Tests, the leanest patch of his career.
It could be argued that Junaid could have been eased back into international cricket after some practice games at home. He was bowling in the nets during his rehab at the NCA and he did not play any competitive cricket before being sent on the tour of Bangladesh after the World Cup, having been out of action for almost eight months.
Now, with Rahat Ali coming in for the injured Wahab Riaz, and Ehsan Adil and Imran Khan on the bench, Junaid might not make the cut for Pallekele. “He might be dropped and why not?” said Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain. “He is one fine bowler but after injury it’s quite natural. He might have lost his pace, which happens after injury, but he can revive himself and regain his confidence with time.”

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Definitely not the same. Actually on the other side of wut he was earlier and thats highly disappointing. He needs to get dropped and work on nets. Very unfortunate for Pakistan

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Are we not over hyping Junaid here. He was never quite as talented as Amir or Asif imo. Apart from one or two good spells during the ODI series in India a couple of years back he has done nothing of note in tests so far. He has totally lost his penetration now and would struggle to make the XI when Amir comes back into the side in 3 months or so. btw I hold the same opinion about Irfan.

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

I disagree. After Amir was banned junaid looked the closest to him. Far better than Sami. So the expectations were high.

And like him, i'm not sure if amir would be any effective either so we hv to wait for now to see wut happens when it actually happens

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Sami had pace but Asif was more talented than him. Amir did enough during his short test career pre-ban esp. in places like England for people to appreciate that he was a special talent. Same cannot be said about Junaid so far. Remember Amir has not played top notch cricket for a good 5 years. He would be a bit rusty in the beginning but I expect him to be more penetrative than Junaid in tests.

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Asif was a very very special talent. Very sad to see him going in the gutter.
I remember one of my Indian friends used to call him pacer murali.
Aamir did good. I was expecting him to convert into a good all-rounder. Sad we miss them.
BTW during the early days ppl like wasim Akram mentioned junaid to be more talented than aamir. May be he didn't reach to the potential due to presence of aamir n asif.

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Actually lot of injuries shadowed his career. Who can forget Shabbir Ahmed who also took 50 wickets like Asif and Wawqar did in 10 Tests but he couldn't improve his action.

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

Here is the list of Pakistani pacers average wise.
Only Waqar, Shoaib and Asif SR was below 50

[TABLE=“class: engineTable, width: 630”]
[TR=“class: headlinks”]
[TH=“class: left, align: left”]Player[/TH]
[TH=“class: left, align: left”]Span[/TH]
[TH]Mat[/TH]
[TH]Inns[/TH]
[TH]Balls[/TH]
[TH]Runs[/TH]
[TH]Wkts[/TH]
[TH]BBI[/TH]
[TH]BBM[/TH]
[TH]Ave[/TH]
[TH]Econ[/TH]
[TH]SR[/TH]
[TH]5[/TH]
[TH]10[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Imran Khan
1971-1992
88
142
19458
8258
362
8/58
14/116
22.81
2.54
53.7
23
6

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Shabbir Ahmed
2003-2005
10
19
2576
1175
51
5/48
8/109
23.03
2.73
50.5
2
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Waqar Younis
1989-2003
87
154
16224
8788
373
7/76
13/135
23.56
3.25
43.4
22
5

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Wasim Akram
1985-2002
104
181
22627
9779
414
7/119
11/110
23.62
2.59
54.6
25
5

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Khan Mohammad
1952-1958
13
22
3157
1292
54
6/21
8/41
23.92
2.45
58.4
4
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mohammad Asif
2005-2010
23
44
5171
2583
106
6/41
11/71
24.36
2.99
48.7
7
1

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Fazal Mahmood
1952-1962
34
53
9834
3434
139
7/42
13/114
24.70
2.09
70.7
13
4

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Shoaib Akhtar
1997-2007
46
82
8143
4574
178
6/11
11/78
25.69
3.37
45.7
12
2

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Asif Iqbal
1964-1980
58
54
3864
1502
53
5/48
6/75
28.33
2.33
72.9
2
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mohammad Amir
2009-2010
14
27
2867
1484
51
6/84
7/106
29.09
3.10
56.2
3
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Junaid Khan
2011-2015
22
41
4605
2253
71
5/38
8/151
31.73
2.93
64.8
5
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Sarfraz Nawaz
1969-1984
55
95
13951
5798
177
9/86
11/125
32.75
2.49
78.8
4
1

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Umar Gul
2003-2013
47
90
9599
5553
163
6/135
9/164
34.06
3.47
58.8
4
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Aaqib Javed
1989-1998
22
37
3918
1874
54
5/84
8/118
34.70
2.86
72.5
1
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Azeem Hafeez
1983-1985
18
28
4351
2204
63
6/46
7/160
34.98
3.03
69.0
4
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Sikander Bakht
1976-1983
26
45
4870
2412
67
8/69
11/190
36.00
2.97
72.6
3
1

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Abdul Razzaq
1999-2006
46
76
7008
3694
100
5/35
7/155
36.94
3.16
70.0
1
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mudassar Nazar
1976-1989
76
96
5967
2532
66
6/32
6/38
38.36
2.54
90.4
1
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mahmood Hussain
1952-1962
27
42
5910
2628
68
6/67
6/88
38.64
2.66
86.9
2
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mohammad Sami
2001-2012
36
66
7499
4483
85
5/36
8/106
52.74
3.58
88.2
2
0

[/TR]

Re: Post-rehab Junaid not the same

In spinners just look at the SR of Yasir far ahead among others.

[TABLE=“class: engineTable, width: 630”]
[TR=“class: headlinks”]
[TH=“class: left, align: left”]Player[/TH]
[TH=“class: left, align: left”]Span[/TH]
[TH]Mat[/TH]
[TH]Inns[/TH]
[TH]Balls[/TH]
[TH]Runs[/TH]
[TH]Wkts[/TH]
[TH]BBI[/TH]
[TH]BBM[/TH]
[TH][Ave

http://i.imgci.com/espncricinfo/blackArrowUp.gif](Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com)[/TH]
[TH]Econ[/TH]
[TH]SR[/TH]
[TH]5[/TH]
[TH]10[/TH]
[TH][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Pervez Sajjad
1964-1973
19
35
4145
1410
59
7/74
9/112
23.89
2.04
70.2
3
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Yasir Shah
2014-2015
9
17
2555
1356
54
7/76
9/155
25.11
3.18
47.3
3
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Saeed Ajmal
2009-2014
35
67
11592
5003
178
7/55
11/111
28.10
2.58
65.1
10
4

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Iqbal Qasim
1976-1988
50
86
13019
4807
171
7/49
11/118
28.11
2.21
76.1
8
2

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mushtaq Mohammad
1959-1979
57
70
5260
2309
79
5/28
9/119
29.22
2.63
66.5
3
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Abdur Rehman
2007-2014
22
43
6892
2910
99
6/25
8/92
29.39
2.53
69.6
2
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Saqlain Mushtaq
1995-2004
49
86
14070
6206
208
8/164
10/155
29.83
2.64
67.6
13
3

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Tauseef Ahmed
1980-1993
34
58
7778
2950
93
6/45
9/77
31.72
2.27
83.6
3
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Abdul Qadir
1977-1990
67
111
17126
7742
236
9/56
13/101
32.80
2.71
72.5
15
5

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mushtaq Ahmed
1990-2003
52
89
12532
6100
185
7/56
10/106
32.97
2.92
67.7
10
3

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Mohammad Hafeez
2003-2015
44
70
3953
1763
52
4/16
4/48
33.90
2.67
76.0
0
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Danish Kaneria
2000-2010
61
112
17697
9082
261
7/77
12/94
34.79
3.07
67.8
15
2

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Wasim Raja
1973-1985
57
69
4082
1826
51
4/50
6/86
35.80
2.68
80.0
0
0

[/TR]
[TR=“class: data1”]
Intikhab Alam
1959-1977
47
78
10474
4494
125
7/52
11/130
35.95
2.57
83.7
5
2

[/TR]